To buy or not to buy - by Tom Waterman

After so long under the chairmanship of a man tighter than Alan Shearer’s punditry trousers, it’s not surprising that the idea of a billionaire taking over and hurling money through open transfer windows has so excited Villa fans; however, as it has turned out, the manager appointed prior to Randy Lerner’s takeover has proved frugal to a degree that would have delighted the club’s previous owner, and with the prospect of a third, relatively quiet transfer window passing with Villa pockets being burned by Lerner money, fans are a little restless.
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Its been 12 years since forum member Savosbandana has been able to make the long trip to Villa Park from Gillingham, but he was at the game against Reading on Saturday, VBB asked him for his thoughts on the game and how things have changed at Villa Park in his absence.
A part time fan returns.

It was 12 years since I last went to Villa Park (Villa 0 Arsenal 4 season 94/95) and here are my views on the experience and the changes since that time.

The first change I really noticed was how well signposted the car park(s) were, when I was last here I parked at the old fire damaged Asda so was surprised to be parked within 5 minutes of coming off the M6. Parked near the vine and walked thru towards the ground. Had 2 very excited sons with me on their first every premiership visit. Seamed to be less police around since my last visit. As we walked towards the ground the imposing Holte Hotel looks an impressive sight especially compared to the derelict crumbling building that was before and always made the area look run down.

Met up with Mad Dog on the steps outside the Holte suite to have a pre match pint and put a face to some names, would have stayed and met some more if I didn’t have 2 boys champing at the bit to get to their seats. Safe to say there was no Holte suite when I was last here. Walked round the ground Trinity Road side to the North Stand where we were seated, the “new” Trinity looks a vast improvement on the old one from the outside – I know it was redeveloped circa2000 but its my first visit since. Got to our seats around 2.30 row AA 57-59 right behind the goal great view from up there and not as cramped as I was expecting. (I only have short legs). I was up here last time as I took my Arsenal supporting nephew to his first premiership game.

It was now that I noticed the other improvements to ground, with the screens in the corner and the electronic hoardings – good to see the displayed information about the team selection and other results instead of just plain ads. The biggest improvement was there was an atmosphere in the North Stand this time, what with the lower tier being filled with Villa fans rather than away support. This made the whole game more enjoyable as the old stand didn’t echo to away supports singing. Shame to see a large chunk of the Witton Lane empty but I take it that is for away support and the mighty Reading couldn’t fill it. The boys enjoyed the pre match build up and got involved in the applauding and singing when the teams came out to warm up, and my eldest even noticed Olof “crying off”

To the match itself, good to see a bright attacking start from both sides, with Villa in the early ascendancy. Good noise from the Holte end, and some good banter between the North Stand and the travelling supporters. Good to see Token Rennie was up to his usual bizarre decisions, leading to chants of your not fit to referee, (it would have been the referee’s a w****r back in 95) which is much more family friendly. Great goal from BJC from a perfect cross from Ashley Young. Ex Villan Useless Dela Cruz was given a torrid time by Gabby and lucky to be on the park at half time as he was booked for bring him down midway thru the half and was holding up most of the rest of the half. A very entertaining first half came to an end with BJC coming close again.
Some things don’t change tho’ had to queue for ages to take the youngest to the loo at half time, and the concourse was quite tightly packed. Didn’t attempt to eat or drink at this point. Enjoyed watching the highlights on the big screen at half time.

On to the 2nd half, which took place mostly in front of the Holte, Could have been a red card for Hahnemann on 48 as he cynically took out Gabby when he was clean thru, All the north stand were up screaming for him to go but only a yellow. Laursen then scored Villa’s 2nd with an easy header from a corner. To be honest he could have scored more as he won every header from a set piece. BJC had a goal disallowed as Gabby was harshly ruled offside as he latched on to a Young thru ball and the square for the tap in. The frustration was short-lived as the move was repeated but this time no flag for Villa’s third. At this point most of the reading faithful started “sneaking out” and MoN allowed Gabby, Young and BJC individual ovations as they were substituted on 90 minutes. This also gave a debut to the togolese Zidane Salifoooooo. Whilst Villa were reshuffling after the substitutions Reading run down the Villa end and scored a consolation which took the edge off a fine Villa performance.

Waited in our seats for 5 minutes to avoid the rush to leave the stadium and then had an easy exit to the outside and a leisurely stroll back to the car. Was a thoroughly enjoyable day out both the kids want to come again (despite neither of them being Villa fans)

Currently working in the North East i have to hear on a daily basis about the great Geordie nation, the fantastic support, the great ground and how Sam is not fit to run their fine club.

There is no denying that Newcastle fans love their club, they love their football but they seem deluded about their posistion in the grand scheme of things in the wider world of football, to some they are a curiosity, to plenty of others they are a laughing stock.

What has all this got to do with Aston Villa? Quite a few things, let me explain.

There are a number of paralells that can be drawn between the two clubs, firstly our current manager turned down the chance to become the manager of Newcastle before joining Aston Villa.

Both Clubs have in recent times been taken over by new owners replacing hugely unpopular figures.

Both clubs had new managers appointed prior to the takeovers.

Both clubs fans felt that they were underachieving and should have been more succesful than they currently were.

Suddenly the similarites end and herein lies Newcastles problem.

Whilst Randy Lerner has been happy to take a step back into the shadows Mike Ashley seems to take great delight in courting the affections of the Geordies.

Whilst Lerner sets about rebuilding the Holte Hotel, starts work upgrading the clubs training ground and providing his manager with all the support he possibly can, the new Newcastle owner is sat amongst the fans in a Newcastle shirt, trawling the pubs and clubs of the Bigg Market and settling huge bar tabs in the most blatent attempt to win fans favour since O’Learys sudden charm offensive after 2 and a half years of slagging the Villa off.

It seems so obvious when you take a step back, one owner is happy to stay out of the limelight and is concentrating on building something tangible for the future, the other who was previously a recluse seems intent on hogging as much limelight as possible and seems more intent on buying his fans affections with cheap gimmicks rather than going about the buisness of running a club.

Onto the managers. Both managers inherited a mess left over from the previous incumbant, in this instance Alladyce had the luxury of a full pre season to attempt to rectify matters whereas MON had a few weeks.

Both managers attempted to stamp their own identities on the team, and both had a degree of success in their early days with their clubs.

Both teams then suffered a dip in form and embarked on a winless run, whilst Lerner held tight and backed his manager we know that Alladyce paid the price for a perceived failiure and lost his job.

The fans in both cases played a part, Villa fans were clearly not happy with the winless run last season and there were a few dissenting voices, but what most fans realised was that improvement would take time, that decline could not be reversed overnight and that the manager and owner were working together to take the club forward,

Newcastle fans were seemingly unhappy with the appointment from the start, demanded instant success because, well they are Newcastle, and despite not winning anything since i was a baby (i have grey hair these days) they seem to think they have some God given right to win every trophy available to them.
The first hint that things were not going well, and those great Geordie fans were all over Sam like a rash, there is the now infamous footage of fans absuing Alladyce as he stood on the touchline at St James Park.

The thing is, anyone would think that mediocrity is a new experience to these fans.

Would Newcastle fans have continued to support their manager during a run like Villa endured last season, would their chairmen have kept faith in their manager? We now know the answer is a resounding no.

Who knows if Sam would have been successful at Newcastle, but surely that club could have looked at Villa now and seen the benefits of keeping faith in a manager and not panicking at the first sign of trouble.

MON has not done everything right in his time at Villa, he has been questioned over some of the players he has bought and perhaps more importantly the signings he has not made, but undoubtedly most Villa fans appreciate we are making progress and are moving forwards, i now enjoy attending Villa Park, i look forward to games rather than attending out of a sense of duty and habit like i once did.

The new owners have made the odd error, but on the whole they have been a success, they have engaged with the fans postively and have spoke of 5 year plans and aims of Champions League football, they have talked of a proud history and a bright future, bringing Ron Saunders and the class of 82 back to Villa Park will undoubtedly have won the board and Mr Lerner more brownie points than buying a few drinks in Blu Bamboo ever could.

It would have been so easy for Villa to panic 12 months ago, but instead Mr Lerner backed MON totally, the club improved and we are now at a point where European qualification is a very real prospect and the club is only moving in one direction with all parties pulling in the same direction.
Newcastle are now searching for another new manager and Ashley is seemingly prepared to employ a man who whilst probably being the most popular player in their history has absolutely no managerial experience.

There is an old saying that you get what you deserve, Newcastle have Mike Ashley and the possibility of Shearer or Redknapp, Villa have Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill, i will leave you to decide who has the better deal.

So while one club is building for a bright future both on and off the pitch another still seems to think they deserve one simply because they get 50,000 fans attending their games every week.

Newcastle could have learned a lot by following Villas example, lets hope that choosing to ignore it does not lead to relegation for them (it is a real possibility) as Newcastle away is still one of the best trips of the season.

We’re over half through the season now, and almost every side has something to play for (except Derby, sorry guys, but you’re doomed).  With only 5 points separating 14th from 19th, 2 or 3 wins on the bounce could see current strugglers towards mid-table safety.  Conversely, a few bad results and even the likes of Newcastle and Reading, in 12th and 13th respectively, will find themselves in trouble.  Lying in 16th place on 19 points are Birmingham City.   

With a home game against Chelsea sandwiched between trips to Arsenal and fellow strugglers Sunderland it is conceivable that Blues will find themselves in the bottom three at the end of January.  Read the rest of this entry »

It’s unusual, (if not downright peculiar and a little worrying), to find a topic on which a group of football fans completely agree.  We will generally argue over whether up is in fact down and left could perhaps be interpreted as right.

However, keeping Martin Laursen at Villa provokes no such debate.  Read the rest of this entry »